Saved By The Pencil @rousse-deprimee - Tumblr Blog

incredibly grateful that tumblr doesn’t have a memories feature like every other social media platform because frankly i am terrified to even think about what kind of tomfoolery and hooliganery i was getting into 6 years ago on this website

glossynympheteyes

this movie is so fucking creepy jesus fuck

dumpster-king

It’s by Tim Burton, what did you honestly expect?

porcelainandgold

Actually, it’s Henry Selick, who was the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The book was written by Neil Gaiman, though, and is far…far….worse.

whatpunkin

Sorry, I’m about to geek the hell out.

The movie is captivating, but the book is twenty kinds of terrifying, even now, ten years after I first read it. As disturbing as the movie may have been to some, the things Selick added really serve to cushion just how horrific the story really is.

First of all, the character of Wybie does not exist in the book. Coraline is facing all of this nearly alone, with her only help coming from the sly comments of the cat, a warning from the circus mice, and the stone given to her by her neighbor, presented with no comment but that it “makes the unseen seen.”

Second, the Other Parents are never quite as warm (and, dare I say, normal) as they are in the gifs above. They’re described as having paper-white skin and the Other Mother’s hair is said to move on its own, and her long, red, claw-like nails don’t ease any uncertainty that she is absolutely, positively up to no good. The first time Coraline meets them, they (and the rest of the Others) seem to be playing roles (for whatever reason, Coraline does not seem to pick up on this), like they all know what to say and what to do and are simply waiting for Coraline to make her move in their terrifying play world. This is shown to be partly true when the Other Parents tell her they know she’ll be back soon after she refuses the buttons - this time, to stay.

Third, the Other Mother commits atrocities that really should not have been in a book for anyone not fully grown up. She physically deforms the world around Coraline to slow her progress in their game beyond any mild traps the movie portrays, and, instead of turning the Other Father into the wandering pumpkin-thing seen in the film, she simply ceases to use him and throws his body away in the cellar, leaving him to rot with whatever bit of sentience he has left. She begins to lose her touch, as Coraline gains the upper hand. Her world doesn’t just become a nightmare - it falls apart completely. No creepy but oddly cool bug furniture here, just the house that now appears to be a child’s drawing. Whatever the Other Mother is (a beldame, but something tells me she’s much more ancient and powerful than that), she does not give half a hump about what she has to do to ensnare Coraline. Destroy the supporting characters of her twisted creation? Done. Allow herself to be dismembered to ruin Coraline’s life in the normal world? Not even gonna bat an eyelash.

On a final, personal note, imagine eight year-old me, ignored by my parents, absorbed in the story and identifying with Coraline from the start. Imagine me finishing this bloodcurdling book and immediately thinking of my basement, where there is still a locked door that my grandmother swears up and down is nothing more than a storage room, but has not once in my (or my mother’s) lifetime unlocked.

Can you see why this book still scares me?

hematite2

Fun fact I learned from seeing neil gaiman speak: when he first wanted the book published, his editor said it was too scary. He suggested she read it to her young daughter, and then decide. So she did, and her daughter wasn’t afraid, and it was published. Years later, Gaiman was sitting next to that daughter at an event and told her this story, and she said “oh I was terrified I just didn’t want to tell my mom”.

Coraline WAS too scary to be published, but exists anyway because a girl lied to her mother.

petrichormeraki

feyariel

@neil-gaiman, is this true about the publisher’s daughter?

neil-gaiman

It was my literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz who read it and said “you can’t seriously expect this to be published as a children’s book.” So I suggested she read it to her daughters. And she called me back a week later and said “They love it and they weren’t scared at all. I’ll take it to Harper Children’s.”

A decade later, at the Opening Night of the Coraline musical, I was sitting next to Morgan, Merilee’s youngest daughter, and told her how her not being scared had made the book happen. And she said “I was terrified. But I needed to find out what happened next. So nobody knew.”

So, yes.

littlelostalotgrateful

“Tips to prevent mood swings: avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugary foods” that’s me diet tho mate

poinsciuri

adhd just makes your really bad at capitalism, unfortunately

poinsciuri

like bro i am just floating in a bubble detached from the flow of time and you want me to work 8 hour shifts?

forgotn1

I am built to sit up from sundown to sunup with minimal food and less light watching for intruders or little animals that I can kill. That requires very little of what would actually be called work and a whole lot of just zoning out because my eyes and ears are naturally attuned to picking up and focusing on changes to the environment. I am not built for the 9 to 5 office world, Janet. Unless your job requires me to persistence hunt Mark for sport.

free-range-tiddies

Antivaxxers: The vaccines have microchips, the government is trying to track us!

The smartphones/smart tech in their house:

guccixcucci

The drivers license/credit & debit cards in their wallets

official-sokka

Their social security number

wakandamama

They License Plate on the back of their van

flowerytale

Lord Byron — To the Countess of Blessington

hyrude

cloudybakery

Everyone says Riverdale is the most batshit show but Glee walked shitfaced out of the bar so Riverdale could run into oncoming traffic

dwight-schrutes

invented love

i-dont-even-effing-know-anymore

dailytmomsen

aupu-deactivated20150627

vulvva-deactivated20200910

I used to be a teenager and that’s the root of all my problems today. Never should have done that.

theprogressivesadist

socialistexan

scoutbert

direct action

spaceshipsandpurpledrank

@drukhari

shinosarna

not even joking, this literally is direct action

kneegrow-chan

Good

legs-are-just-for-show

I can’t believe the classic “MOM HOLY FUCK” comic was actually made by the PnF crew this entire time

legislacerator

this post just changed my whole life

deactivated33534873628732-deact

i-

cockyroaches

Same mood

leh-sarah

This was drawn by C. H. Greenblatt. Aka a former storyboard artist for Spongebob and the creator of Chowder

taghna-deactivated20211125

how can people be so rude and don’t feel bad afterwards… When I don’t say thank you or don’t smile back I’ll think about it for 3 months straight and have flashbacks